X-Men Apocalypse (2016): Stewart And McKellen Not Returning?

Stewart And McKellen Not Set To Return. It appears extremely unlikely that Patrick Swewart and Ian Mckellen will be featured in the next film in the X-Men movie franchise, the 1980’s based X-Men: Apocalypse. During a recent interview with Larry King, King asked Stewart about his chances of returning for the next film. Stewart stated,

No. Nor Sir Ian McKellen, either.

During the interview, Stewart also went on to mention this about the film,

I was learning quite a lot more about it last night, and it is going to be looking very much at the earlier lives of all our characters… And so I don’t think we’ll be making an appearance.

This shouldn’t come as a surprise to fans of the current generation of “X” films. Dating back to 2011’s X-Men: First Class, the “X” films have acted as a “soft” series reboot as opposed to purely being prequel films. Unless the next few movies also deal with time travel or are told in flashbacks, there is no longer any reason to incorporate the older versions of the Professor X or Magneto characters into the current batch of films.

I have to admit that as much as I appreciate the talent and legitimacy that Stewart and McKellen bring to the franchise, I prefer the onscreen dynamic between James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender. Depicting younger versions of the characters, before the height of their animosity has also allows the the two future adversaries to share more time together onscreen. The last two X-Men film’s have done a better job of fleshing out the Proferssor X and Magneto characters as well as focusing on the moral ambiguity that lingers around each side’s cause.

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About the author

Victor Stiff

Born and raised in Toronto, Victor has spent the past decade using his love and knowledge of the city to highlight and promote significant cultural events such as TIFF, The IIIFA awards, and the Anokhi Gala. He is an avid reader of Sci-fi and Horror and constantly sits through indie film marathons in rabid anticipation of the genre’s next great film auteurs. He also contributes sci-fi and fantasy movie reviews to www.zone-six.net